Sea, Sun, Stars
by SyllableFromSound
Summary: "And then, in spite of the poor light, he saw it. The beast. The creature that he had been seeking for so long. The one-eyed entity that he had encountered on the day that he dove in to save a drowning friend." AliHaku Sailor AU. Rate T for mild swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**WHAAAAAAT? I'm actually still capable of completing a story?! SINCE WHEN?!**

 **And speaking of which: YAS, FIRST _MAGI_ FIC, YAAAAAAS. I've been rather obsessed with this series for months, so I'm glad to finally work with it in a story! This fic actually began as a gift as part of a Secret Santa event over Tumblr, but because I liked the idea so much I decided to expand on it, and here we are (six months after the fact, of course, but that's to be expected).  
**

 **I should also point out that I can't completely take credit for this story, or at least the idea behind it. It was heavily inspired by a Japanese legend centering around a deity called Ryujin. (No, you're not allowed to Google the myth to get spoilers for this story. XP)**

 **Hnngh...I'm not sure how well I like this chapter. I feel as though it's a bit rushed. However, as always, I would love to hear any comments or criticism that any of you have. You don't have to be nice about it, so long as you speak your mind.**

 **Finally, I'll tell you all now that chapters of this story will be posted weekly-and this time I can actually keep that promise, because all the chapters have already been written! So I hope you look forward to that.**

 **Hmm...I feel like there's more to say, because I usually babble more, but I guess that's now what you're here for anyway. So without further ado, please enjoy!**

* * *

Stealing a glance at the water, he thought he spotted it, briefly catching the brilliance of the noonday sun.

Instantly, he dropped his work and raced to the ship's starboard side, straddling the edge of the deck so as to scrutinize the section of sea directly below. The ocean's surface undulated like wind-blown silk, rising and falling in rhythmic motion. The water this day, as on all fair-weather days, seemed to be jewel-encrusted: The crests of the waves reflected the light and made it appear as though diamonds studded their tops, gems that disintegrated back into the darkness of the depths almost as soon as they formed. Alibaba was not chasing after these fools' jewels, however; instead, he sought the sleek flash of obsidian skimming the surface.

Everyone had mocked him when he would speak of a great scaly form rising from the depths. At first, he had tried to defend what he had seen, but gradually he came to the conclusion that, perhaps, this creature was not meant to be viewed. And so, over the years, he had kept a private mental record of his sightings of the beast. In addition to getting the rare momentary looks at its serpentine black form, Alibaba had caught glimpses of its fan-like tail and, at one point, even got close enough to see its massive eye.

No such luck today, though, it seemed. If the great animal had been there a moment ago, it had already disappeared once again.

"Um…so do you need any help, sir?"

Alibaba jumped back immediately at the sudden voice. There was no time for him to prevent himself from slamming back into the barrels which he had been packing before he had gotten distracted. They all toppled and slammed to the floor of the deck, as did his tender rear end.

As he groaned in frustration, Alibaba's second-in-command hurried to his aid. "Are you alright, sir?" In spite of her carefully preserved stoicism, her lips twitched with the threat of an amused smile.

"Don't call me 'sir,' Morgiana...and yes, I'm fine, thanks!" The grimace on his face told otherwise, but he managed to hoist himself to his feet anyway. "See? Fine...really."

Morgiana nodded and began picking up the spilled goods. "So...what were you doing up here?"

 _Oh, just tracking down a sea serpent, like any old Tuesday._ "I, ah...just thought we should start preparing for the storm that's coming."

"Storm?" She glanced up. "But the sun's been shining all day..."

Alibaba chuckled. "Yeah, but I think that's gonna change. Just a feeling I had..." It was not a feeling, not really. He had simply learned over the years that sightings of the black beast were always followed by rain. "Do me a favor and tell the others to make sure the goods are secured. It's gonna get choppy."

* * *

Alibaba had never had trouble falling asleep with thunder before. He had long ago learned not to fear the storms that lashed the lands of his youth. The rumbling filled his mind with white noise and drove out any other troubling thoughts.

Not tonight. On this night, the patter of the rain penetrated him, and the wind howled. Thoughts clattered around in his mind like spilled marbles skittering across the floor, too loud for him to sleep.

After tossing in his hammock for what must have been over an hour, with a grunt, he rose and proceeded to the upper deck. There, he could hear more clearly the wind that caused the main mast of the ship to creak and moan. Great droplets fell on him, but he didn't care. In his frustration, all he could do was stare into the starless sky until, hopefully, he would become tired enough to finally sleep. And there was the groan of the wind again.

Only...it wasn't the wind, not this time. He heard a distinctly human voice, a call wild and desperate that just barely rose above the howling of the gale. It was a cry for help.

He rushed to the side of the ship and looked down at the waters, which mirrored perfectly the inky darkness of the stormy heavens. At first, he saw nothing.

Then, out his peripheral vision, Alibaba spotted it: the form of a person, being mercilessly tossed by the heaving sea. The figure seemed to be sprawled out over some piece of jetsam, which kept him barely suspended over the liquid chaos of the breaking waves. The person seemed to lay nearly motionless.

Before he could think, Alibaba's body leapt into action. He watched his work-hardened arms reach for the loose rope lying on the deck, grab it, toss the length of it over the side of the deck in the direction of the figure in the hope that the stranded man would grab on.

By this point, the commotion had led the rest of his crew to wake and come rushing out from below the deck. Olba was the first to reach him, yelling above the thunder and gusts, "Alibaba, what the hell's going on out here?!"

"Somebody's in the water down there! They won't take the rope, so I'm gonna have to get them down there!" He began tying the rope securely around his waist.

"What?! But you can't just jump in! You'll-" But Alibaba had already handed the free end of the rope to him. He jumped over the side and crashed through the open air for a few seconds before the ocean absorbed him. The freezing sea attempted to hold him in an icy embrace, but he managed to surface and started swimming the short distance until-finally-he reached the drowning person.

Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around the man and waited for Olba and the others to pull them both up. As they were being dragged from the water, for the first time he turned to look at the young man at his side. His shivering body was naked. Though scrawny, Alibaba could feel the layer of lean muscle on his chest. Even in the dark, he could make out the shape of a young face, somehow simultaneously serious and boyish. Most striking, however, was the pattern of scarring that adorned the left side of his body, ranging from his thighs to the starburst against across his eye. It stood out against his flesh, as stark and jagged as the lightning that sliced the sky.

* * *

Alibaba woke up still groggy the following morning. By the time the stranded, unconscious fellow had been taken care of and Alibaba had dried off and the buzz amongst the crew had finally died down, it had already been well into the wee hours of the morning. It seemed to take an age for him to finally drag his weary body from his hammock. When he finally mustered the energy to get up, he found that most of the crew had gathered around the private cabin in which they had placed the stranded man.

Alibaba walked over to Morgiana, who stood a little apart from the action, just outside the cabin door. "Is he finally awake?"

She nodded in reply, and that was all the encouragement he needed. He pushed past the crowd to see the boy he had saved last night, now fully conscious. In the morning light, Alibaba now saw him with far greater clarity. In spite of last night's trauma, he still sat up straight, and there was an air of alertness about him. His smooth, somewhat angular face would have been unblemished if not for the scar. More than anything else, Alibaba noticed his eyes-one the color of the water, the other that of the sky. Both focused in on him the moment the entered the room.

Before either of the men had a chance to speak to one another, Olba intervened. "Can you believe it, Alibaba? Barely a scratch on him after last night! He said his name's Hakuryuu."

Hakuryuu-it was a foreign name, as Alibaba should've guessed it would've been, judging by the almond shape of his eyes and the color of his skin. That, and the way this strange young man stared at him so intently, seemed to lend him an air of mistrust.

"Ah..." He found his tired self scrambling slightly to keep up with the developments. "Well, welcome aboard, Hakuryuu. We're, er, all glad you made it out alright. So...how exactly did you get caught out in that storm again?"

"He says he doesn't remember," Olba responded. "He only knows that you helped him out of it."

"Uh-huh...and how long do you think you'll be sailing with us?"

"He said-"

"I said," Hakuryuu finally interjected, never taking his eyes of Alibaba, "that I'd stay as long as it would take to pay you back for saving my life. I...I really am very grateful for it, and I'd like to help you in any way I can for as long as you'd let me."

Alibaba chuckled, suddenly cocky. "Yeah, well...it was no big deal, you know? Just doing what comes naturally to a guy like me!"

In spite of his apparent confidence, Alibaba still watched the rescued youth from the corner of his eye. There was something practiced, almost mechanic about the way in which he had professed his supposed gratitude. Something in this castaway's tone suggested another motive.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, all! Sorry that this chapter came a few hours late-on the bright side, though, I do feel that there's a bit more meat to this one, and hopefully it'll be more interesting emotionally. I very much hope you agree!**

 **To the anonymous reviewer of this story: Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad to be able to contribute. To answer your question, yes, I continued this story well past what I posted on Tumblr. (And, to be honest, I think the continuation is actually far more interesting than what I originally wrote.)**

 **As always, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Two nights later, Hakuryuu sat in the shadows. While all others on the ship drank and ate and reveled in one another's company after the day of work, he knew better than to try that. He possessed little in common with any of them. And anyway, he wasn't hungry.

Instead, he sat near the wall, accompanied by nothing more than his own thoughts. He had, at least, found a way to get onto this ship. He had never felt closer to his goal than at that very moment. From his corner, he scanned the crowd, as though believing that if he stared long enough, the person whom he had been searching for all this time would suddenly be revealed to him.

Across the room, out of Hakuryuu's earshot, Alibaba slumped over the small table. "Mor, he can't do a damn thing on this ship. I don't think he's ever even been on a dinghy." He tipped back another swig of wine, then slammed the empty cup down emphatically. "I mean, how does the guy expect to pay me back or whatever if he can't even tie a couple clove-hitch knots, huh?"

"Hmm," Morgiana said.

"Look, I'm not saying I regret saving him, but there's only so many times I can see a guy nearly rip the sails before I snap."

"Did you try talking to him?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course! I tried giving him lots of direction, but-"

"That's not what I meant. I meant...he's over there looking pretty lonely right now, don't you think?"

"Looks to me like that's not my problem."

In the midst of his contemplation, Hakuryuu's attention was suddenly drawn to the far end of the room, where he caught sight of the ruby-haired girl quickly grabbing Alibaba's shirt collar and pulling him forward so that his forehead slammed painfully into hers. She quietly grumbled a few words to him, and a minute later, he got up and reluctantly headed in Hakuryuu's direction. 'Just my luck,' the black-haired boy thought.

Alibaba stood for a moment before him, clearing his throat.  
"Uh...hey. We...well, I thought you might be hungry, so I brought over something for you...if you want it."

Hakuryuu looked down at the food, then back up at the blond that held it. "Thanks, but that's really alright...I don't need to eat anything right now."

"Well, you should at least have a bite of this...you'll need to keep your strength up to do more work tomorrow." 'And Morgiana won't let me come back to the table until she knows you've had some dinner.'

Hakuryuu eyed the meal before carefully taking it from him. His face remained all but expressionless as he sampled the fare. In fact, if not for the unnatural greenish tinge that began to color his cheeks, one might have never guessed at his complete and utter disgust.

Alibaba noticed his reaction, though, and it took a significant amount of willpower to restrain the laugh threatening to burst through the barrier of his lips. "Not your thing, is it?"

In what appeared to be a genuinely agonizing process, Hakuryuu slowly swallowed the wad of saliva and, amazingly, succeeded in not gagging. "No...it's fine."

The ship's young captain chuckled to himself. He couldn't help but see before him a spoiled wuss, unacquainted with hardship of any sort. "Yeah, eating hard tack's a bit of a right of passage for seamen...but if it's not agreeing with you, I could always find you something that's a little easier to stomach."

From underneath his sable locks, Hakuryuu glared up at his challenger with a look of unmatched resolve and determination. Then, to Alibaba's surprise, he grabbed another piece of tack. "I said this is fine."

While there were many estimates, no one ever truly knew how many times Hakuryuu threw up that night. What is known is that he took the preparation of his meals into his own hands for the remainder of the voyage.

* * *

Exhaustion settled in the Hakuryuu's lower body like a dense liquid, leaving him with a heaviness in his shuffling feet. The day had once again proved frustrating, as he still did not know how to operate a sailing vessel any more than before. The forgetfulness of sleep called him.

"Hey!"

It was the call of a voice that had become increasingly familiar to him in the past few days. He turned to see Alibaba walking hurriedly towards him. The youthful sailor hesitated for a moment before starting, "You know, um...I was kind of feeling bad about the whole thing with dinner the other night."

Hakuryuu cocked an eyebrow. "Were you? You seemed pretty pleased with yourself at the time."

"I was," Alibaba blurted. He then caught himself and quickly continued, "But not anymore. I was just thinking,  
maybe...maybe you'd wanna see the nicer side to the seafaring life."

The rescued boy now turned to face his savior with curiosity. "Like what?"

Alibaba grinned. "Well, you'd have to accompany me to the lookout if you want to see."

He stared into the honey of the other young man's eyes,  
trying to detect any faltering in the boy's gaze that would hint at deceit on his part. He found none. "...Alright, then."

Together, they walked to the base of the main mast. "Now, I'll show you how to get up there. Just follow-"

Alibaba stopped upon seeing that Hakuryuu had already climbed part of the way up the ship's rigging, skillfully scampering up to the lookout post. He stopped to fix the captain with a small but smug smile-perhaps the first smile Hakuryuu had openly worn since he'd been welcomed aboard. "I may not know how to do many things on this ship, but I can climb."

"I...guess you can." Alibaba slowly began following him up.

Hakuryuu reached the top first and immediately paused to look up. "Wow..."

He was quickly accompanied by the blond. "So you like it?"

"The stars are pretty amazing up here, I have to admit." For some time, that was all they said to each other; the sound of the sea filled up the blank spaces where conversation was missing, and for some time, they were both content in their mutual silence. Then, they weren't.

"Do you know anything about constellations?"

At the sudden question, Alibaba turned quickly to look at the asker before shrugging. "Not really...I never had the patience to study the sky like that."

"I always liked it," Hakuryuu went on. "I used to spend hours trying to find pictures in the sky."

"Hmm...kind of wish I had a talent for that."

"Well, I could show you how to find a few constellations. I'll show you the Four Directions." He pointed upwards, tracing the drawings in the glowing dots as he spoke. "When I was young, I learned that the each of the cardinal directions was guarded by one of these creatures in the sky. There's the Blue Dragon of the East, the Red Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North."

Alibaba huffed. "I honestly don't see anything."

"Look, I'll just start by showing you the dragon." He slowly pointed from one star to another, stitching together the pinpricks of light in the sky with his finger. "There's his horn, then his neck, then his body..."

Alibaba squinted into the night. "...Yeah...yeah, now I think I'm starting to see it. I guess that is cool..."

"The best part of those stars is that if you can find them, you can find yourself. They're a compass in the sky."

Alibaba laughed lightly. "Well, why didn't you tell me about all this earlier? You should be the ships navigator!"

Hakuryuu glanced his way. "You think I'd really be good at that?"

"I think so...we'll work out the details tomorrow. But you know, Hakuryuu, you're not as useless as you first seem."

"Thanks. You're not as much of a sanctimonious ass as you first seem."

"Hey,now..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we are again! For everyone who has read the story up to this point, thank you so much for your support. It really does mean everything to me that people appreciate the things I have worked hard on. In my opinion, the story gets much more dynamic from this point on, so I hope you enjoy it even more!**

 **To the anonymous reviewer known as randomperson: Thank you so much! I'm very glad you've been liking it so far! ^^**

* * *

On most nights, if they had nothing to do after dinner, they would go up to the lookout. Sometimes Hakuryuu would try to tell more about the stars-though Alibaba would learn little, listening less to his words and more to the sound of his voice. More often, though, they simply talked. Sometimes they talked about everything, but more often than not, they talked about nothing. They bantered and bickered over nonsense, over minutiae, in order to take their minds off larger and more troubling matters.

"You know, I've been on this ship for a few months now," Hakuryuu casually remarked one evening, "and I still don't know the name of it."

Alibaba picked idly at a piece of skin around his fingernail. "Strictly speaking, she doesn't have one. But when I need to call her something, she's the Dragoness. "

He raised his eyebrows and nodded a bit. "I like it."

"It's much too nice for this old hunk of wood. When I was young, my...my brother and I dreamed of commanding a whole fleet of these things. We made plans every night to one day run this huge shipping empire and then sit on our butts and never work another day in our lives. We'd own a hundred beautiful caravels, with sails big enough to block out the whole sky, we said!" He chuckled. "We planned it all, down to how many pretty maids we would keep in our houses. We knew if we could have enough ships, we wouldn't have to live in the slums or sleep in that nasty old dockyard anymore."

Hakuryuu swallowed, suddenly feeling a sense of awkwardness at all this personal information. He attempted to change the subject. "Why that particular name?"

Alibaba slowly turned to face the young man's mismatched eyes. There was a harmony to them now, the same sort of harmony the sea strikes with the sky at the horizon. Over these past weeks, Hakuryuu had proven himself to be a sensible and attentive listener. And, yes, even in that short time, a trust had developed between them.

He took a deep breath to prepare himself, then began to recount the story of the black creature in the water. He talked of the sightings over the years, of the single eye glinting at him through the clear water and the rippling of the dark, shining scales. He told of how, to his knowledge, only he was able to see the beast. And he even admitted that, unbeknownst to anyone, he still searched for it today.

"You know what the funny thing is?" he said rather wistfully. "I always kind of thought that that animal-whatever it is-appeared to me on purpose. Like it had a message for me or something..." At last, he turned to Hakuryuu, who had done nothing but listen and watch intently for the entirety of Alibaba's tale. He blinked at the young captain a few times, seeming unsure how to respond to the new information.

At long last, he had only one comment for Alibaba: "Well, that seems a little self-centered, don't you think?"

Alibaba stared for a moment. Then, he laughed. He laughed a free and jovial laugh that skipped across the waves and echoed into the distance, as though it would never end.

Hakuryuu blushed, cringed at his own words. "Sorry, sorry, I don't know why I said that. I didn't mean anything by that, really, I just had no idea what to-"

"No, no!" Alibaba managed to get out between his chuckling. "I just...I love that you didn't even questioned that the thing existed, that I wasn't just making it up!"

"Yeah, well," Hakuryuu muttered. "I know you're not crazy."

"Thanks." Alibaba smirked as he started to climb down from the lookout. "I appreciate that."

Hakuryuu hesitated a moment, waiting until he had already climbed down a little ways. Then, very quietly, he whispered, "I hope you find that creature one day."

* * *

He stared straight down, over the edge. In the dim pre-morning, the winds had not yet begun to blow in full force and the waters remained remarkably calm, the waves seemingly nothing more than little scribbles across the great flat expanse of blue-black. He looked down at those scribbles as one would view the writings of a foreign tongue, knowing a message existed there but unable to decipher it. Somewhere in the tumult of his tangled thoughts, he wished desperately that the sea would spell out an answer for him if he waited long enough.

Intuitively, Hakuryuu went to touch his sightless eye. It was a fraud, naturally, a glass eye magicked to move and turn as the real thing would. But, of course, it served no purpose outside of cosmetic reasons.

He had boarded this ship in the hopes of locating the eye that had been stolen from him-or, at the very least, the person who had done the deed. It was the same hope he had had every day for so many years, the goal that dragged him across the world's seas in search of any clue, any clue at all. At last, he had been led to the Dragoness, hoping that his search would at last come to an end.

But it didn't.

The blood behind his eye-the seeing one-began to pulse hard as Hakuryuu began to summon gusts. His remaining eye still allowed him to retain dominion over storms at sea, though he had lost control over the water along with the eye that had been stolen from him.

Hakuryuu had searched for years, and finally, when he thought he had come so close, he realized that he had never been farther away. What was there for him to do now?

As the gray clouds accumulated above, he stood. The water would not give him the answer he sought-it was the answer.

He did not jump so much as he fell, slowly, attracted by some pulling force to the depths below.

* * *

It was before dawn when Alibaba woke to the great splash.

Instantly, he sat up and attempted to make out the vague shapes in the dim light. A dark form sat in slumber in each of the hammocks...except for one.

He leapt up, his legs operating faster than his mind as he raced to the upper deck and desperately searched the waters for signs of life, any life. But the waters grew choppier by the moment, and every time he thought he spotted someone moving, it turned out only to be a rising wave or tossed bit of foam. He called out, but his echo was thrown back in his face like an insult, and he received no other response.

It was just as before. He didn't think. He grabbed the rope. He jumped. He broke through the glass surface of the water.

The sole difference was that, this time, he did not save Hakuryuu. He did not even spot another human. Instead, beneath the waves he found himself face-to-face with a great black serpent.

Now, at last, he saw the beast as a whole, in all its vastness and majesty. The beast seemed to him like the embodiment of a great sea current, coiling and twisting, changing the course of the waves while still being at one with the sea. Its teeth and claws, both the color of polished ivory, must have been the size of Alibaba's head. Great whiskers trailed off the ends of its reptilian face. He recognized the scales-dark, so dark, as though some heavenly smith had smelted the night sky itself into hard armor. However, for the first time, he noticed now the weakness in that armor: a scar that ran the length of the dragons body and ended at the side of its face.

He also saw that the animal possessed only a single eye...a remarkably familiar eye, one that possessed an intense intelligence, a human understanding that contrasted with its snakelike appearance.

For many moments, Alibaba and the dragon stared at one another, unmoving. Neither of them opened their mouths, but the great serpent spoke to him nevertheless. He was sure of it, for just before the animal turned to swim away, he heard the familiar voice of a certain former castaway in his mind. Just a single sentence.

'It was fated.'


	4. Chapter 4

The sun lumbered slowly through the sky that day. As the long morning wore on into the afternoon, the great orb seemed to grow fatter, expanding into the uniform expanse of cornflower-blue around it. It seemed engorged with its own power. Like a bully, it reached out its harsh, yellow-white rays to prick at anything and everything that came under its glare. Among those whom it oppressed were the crew members of a ship called the 'Dragoness.'

Alibaba found himself having to squint often against the reflection of the sunlight on the water, and every few minutes he would reach up to wipe away the film of sweat from his forehead. Oddly enough, the terrible heat might not have been so oppressive to him if there were work to be done, some form of distraction. However, there would be little to preoccupy him or anyone else on the ship until they arrived at the next port and received a new shipment to carry-and that would not be for some time, judging by how sluggish the wind had been over the past several weeks.

Since _he_ had left.

"Captain? Are you alright?"

Alibaba quickly stopped tore his gaze away from the sky and fixed it instead on a slightly bewildered Bhrol. Alibaba had not noticed the sailor clambering up to the crow's nest to meet him, but it now occurred to him that the man must have been standing there for quite some time.

"Ah! Sorry, Bhrol. What was it that you wanted?"

"Well, I was just told to tell you that our rations of salted meat have just about run out...sir."

Alibaba rubbed his moist temples and groaned. "Just what we need...well, as long as we've got enough bread to last us, we should still be able to make it just fine until we reach port, right?"

"Well, we'll be able to survive alright, Captain...but the crew might not be too keen on living on nothing but hard tack and-"

"We've been through worse, haven't we?" Alibaba cut in. Then, with less of an edge to his voice: "It's just for the next week or so. We'll reach Usraepi by then."

"...Yes, sir, you're right." But the sailor did not sound convinced by his own words. He retreated back down from the lookout point, leaving Alibaba alone again, with no sound except the drone of a thousand thoughts buzzing inside his head.

The captain of the 'Dragoness' sighed to himself. He shouldn't have been short just then. In the past several days, the whispers of many crew members had floated his way, commenting about how "odd" his behavior had become since the incident.

 _'Bet Alibaba just swallowed a bit too much seawater trying to save Hakuryuu. Should be getting over it soon.'_

 _'If you ask me, the captain's traumatized. I mean, wouldn't you be if you saw a friend drown, we just have to hope he keeps his wits about him.'_

 _'Look, all I'm saying is that it looks suspicious. So the captain just happened to be the first one on deck after the guy fell overboard? He didn't even have us search for a body.'_

None of their theories were correct, of course. But telling them about a great, rippling, black serpent he had seen beneath the water seemed unlikely to help his case for sanity.

* * *

The waves roiled overhead. Above them, he knew, the clouds rolled along, just as gray and tumultuous as the waters of this open sea. A storm had taken hold, a big one.

But Hakuryuu had swum down far too deep to feel the raindrops that stung the surface. Nor could he now hear the thunder from beneath so many feet of water. Indeed, in spite of having supposedly free reign of this stretch of ocean, he felt only more isolated, boxed in by the walls of water, with neither sight nor sound to stimulate him. He'd never liked the open water, actually, just for this reason. Coasts acted as epicenters of life, constantly humming with activity; the open ocean was a desert made of water, a deprivation chamber of sorts.

Many times he considered taking a look above the waves, just for a moment. And each time he immediately rejected the idea, knowing that he had taken a risk already simply by showing up in this exposed spot. Should he venture to the surface, he would almost surely be spotted.

Suddenly, he felt an unnatural yet familiar current move past his body, enveloping him. It was what he had waited for. The current grew stronger until the water carried by it seemingly began to harden, as though turning to ice before his eyes. Upon closer inspection, however, it became apparent that the water was being transformed into thousands of scales-ivory in color, iridescent, hard like a talon and translucent like an insect's wing. These scales joined together until they formed a serpentine shape. Out of the water's flow had emerged the form of a beautiful white dragon, just slightly longer and larger than Hakuryuu, but, as he saw it, infinitely more impressive.

 _'I thought you wouldn't be coming,'_ he admitted after a moment.

The white creature swam closer to him. Soft, intelligent eyes shone out from a reptilian face. _'But I did, didn't I?'_

Yes, she did. And, at his core, Hakuryuu had known that his sister always would. He had simply grown too accustomed to doubt.

He caught Hakuei studying him intently, and reflexively he moved his head so that she would not be able to see the black, empty socket on the left of his face. It had once held an eye as bright and as blue as hers.

She approached and nuzzled him softly. _'I'm sorry. I...I know you thought you were closer than ever this time.'_

 _'I'm sorry, too.'_

She drew back for a moment to look him directly in his remaining eye. ' _You will find it one day.'_

 _'You've been saying that for quite a long while,'_ he replied.

 _'And I'm right. Your older sister always is.' A few bubbles escaped her fanged mouth as she chuckled slightly. Then, with a renewed solemnity: 'That's not the part I'm worried about.'_

He glanced up at her. That's what he always did, it seemed like, ever since he was a hatchling-he looked up at her as though her gleaming whiteness were that of the sun. _'What are you worried about, then?'_

A deep exhale. Bubbles floating from her nostrils skyward. ' _You're very clever, Hakuryuu. You always have been. Surely you've figured by now that Gyokuen still won't let you rest, whether you manage to find your eye or not.'_

A snarl formed on his lips at the mention of the Great Dragon's name. _'Yes, I have. She's hunted me like a rabbit for this long, so why should the fun end for her now?'_

 _'Then what do you plan on doing about it? After you've found the eye, I mean.'_

He quickly turned to stare at her, momentarily forgetting to hide the sightless side of his face. _'What will I do? I'll have to fight her, of course. I'll have to stop running and finally face her.'_

Hakuei shook her great head. _'You and I both know why that's not possible.'_

 _'It is! Once I have the power in my eye returned to me, I'll be strong enough to-"_

 _'That's not what I meant. Even if you did manage to defeat her...well, you know what would happen.'_

 _'That's not true! It's a lie she thought up to keep any of us from resisting her, don't you understand? And as for her strength, I don't care if she's got every beast in the ocean willing to fight me. I'll find a way!'_

 _'Hakuryuu, you can't-'_ But her words were eaten up by a dull rumble that sounded over head. Hakuryuu felt the resulting vibrations against his skin as they thrummed through the water. No surprise-it was often claimed that the sea itself trembled at the approach of the Great Dragon.

 _'She'll sense that I'm here. I can't stay.'_

He had already turned to flee, but Hakuei quickly swam in front of him to block his path. _Not every single piece of creation is set against you. You can't be on your own forever!'_

The black dragon quickly swam around her, rapidly slashing his tail back and forth through the water in order to move forward. As he sped away, he angrily called back to her, _'And who exactly is going to join me, then? A weak, hunted dragon at half his usual power? Who will stay with me?!'_

As soon as he heard his own words, the images flashed through his mind, seizing his consciousness. First a great, glowing smile. Then a dutiful captain at his helm, studying the waves. Then a hand the color of aged copper pointing up at the stars.

The golden boy.

In truth, he had suspected Alibaba of the crime right away. The pattern of his soul, as Hakuryuu saw it initially almost immediately matched that of the man who had performed the terrible theft. In fact, upon their first meeting, he had been perfectly willing to kill the captain with the sun-colored hair and sun-kissed skin. After all, the very day he lost the eye, he vowed he would end the person who had taken so much from him. But in all the time that he had been on the ship, he had been proven wrong again and again. Alibaba's soul was, in fact, different from that of the thief. It followed the same pattern, yes, but it exuded a different light. He shone in all his kindness, this boy with both the eyes and the heart of gold.

 _Not possible_. Hakuryuu shook his head quickly. His tail sliced even more quickly through the sea. _Not possible._


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again! Sorry for the slightly shorter chapter this time-the next portion of the story is a rather long one, as well as being critical to the plot. I think that if I'd combined it with this chapter, it would've been far too much. On the upside, though, the story picks up quite a bit after this point, and you'll be learning a lot more about what's going on!**

 **Please don't forget to review if you feel like it! I appreciate any and all feedback, good or bad, so don't be shy.**

* * *

Alibaba secured the final barrel to the ship's deck. "That's the last of them!" he called out to his crew. They had completed the work that they had needed to carry out at Usraepi, and had come away with a respectable profit in exchange for their efforts. But even as his shipmates made hasty preparations to set sail, he still felt a small sense of dissatisfaction welling in his gut.

Morgiana came to stand beside him as he looked out at the docks and the bustling _agora_ just behind them. If she sensed that something was off about her captain-and she must've-she, mercifully, had the good sense to not mention it.

After a few moments of pressing silence, he confessed, "This place is kinda like where I grew up."

"I thought you grew up much farther from here," she replied.

"Yeah, but it's the same basic setup here. There was a market just like this one where I lived. They had everything there-jewels, weapons...one man sold these amazing crystal vases that were taller than he was. And the food! It came from all over the world, and you could smell it from a mile away!" He let out a light laugh, which quickly transformed into a sigh. "My brother and I saw it all come into our port every day on ships...but we could never have any of it. We vowed one day we'd be rich enough to buy out the whole market."

Morgiana glanced at him. Something uncharacteristically delicate had crept into her voice. "Your brother is gone now, right?"

"Yeah." Suddenly, Alibaba turned to her and flashed an embarrassed grin. "You don't wanna hear about all this, I know."

"I do," she quickly asserted. "It's wonderful to know how far you've come since then, and...and I'm honored to work with someone who's managed to accomplish so much."

He stared at her in surprise for quite some time before smiling again, this time out of genuine pleasure. "I couldn't run this ship without you, Mor...in fact, sometimes I think you should be the one in charge." He stepped away from the scene before him and began walking towards the helm. "Can you bring me the sextant? We need to head 30 degrees to the northeast."

In an instant, it came. The wind fell upon them all at once, rushing out of nothingness. It fattened the white bellies of the sails and seemed to enliven the _Dragoness_ once again. It brought relief to the sun-soaked skins of all the sailors, cooling them. Every member of the crew brightened and chattered enthusiastically about this, their first relief from the heat in weeks. Just for that moment, all seemed simply perfect.

Too perfect, Alibaba quickly realized. The gusts blew towards the northeast, in precisely the direction which he wanted to go.

"Sorry, Morgiana," he started slowly, "I think I meant to say northwest."

And the wind shifted.

 _The hell?_ It took him no time to conclude that the wind was not only being controlled by some conscious force, but also that the controller must be very near. Taking a quick scan of the area, he found that, amidst the chaos of the docks, one cloaked figure stood almost entirely still. Though a hood completely covered the stranger's eyes, Alibaba could see that the entity seemed to be focused on the ship.

"Morgiana, you're in charge for the next few minutes." Before she could question him, he quickly disembarked from the ship. He knew that it might be unwise to interrogate this hidden figure, but such thoughts had rarely stopped him before.

As he came down, the cloaked person began to walk purposefully away. _So he was watching._ Alibaba began to follow, but the mysterious one only walked faster. Alibaba followed suit. "Hey! Hey, hold on a second, would you?!"

The hooded person stopped, as though in response to Alibaba's call. Then, without warning, the figure darted into the marketplace.

 _Shit_.

Unthinking, Alibaba gave chase. He raced after his illusive target, struggling to dodge the vendors and customers that had packed into the market. He desperately attempted to keep his eye on the person, who seemed to be rapidly disappearing into the crowd.

With a final surge of energy, he sped through the throngs and began to gain on the person before him. When he was close enough, he managed to step on the cloak as it trailed on the dusty earth, causing it to fall from the figure.

It dropped to reveal a boy about the same age as Alibaba, a boy with hair as dark as a crow's wing. A boy with eyes of different colors.

A miniature eternity passed between them. They stared at each other for what must have been only a few seconds, for what must've been forever to them. A swarm of questions swirled in Alibaba's head, the noise of a thousand thoughts deafening and dizzying his stunned mind.

Hakuryuu spoke up before he had the chance to sort out the whirlpool of ideas. "Leave me alone, Alibaba!"

Instantly, Alibaba's confusion twisted into anger. "'Leave me alone?' You send winds after our ship and you want _me_ to leave _you_ alone?! You're full of shit!"

"I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you were well. I didn't mean for you to spot me and I'll be leaving now!"

Alibaba grabbed his former companion and slammed him up against one of the marble columns that surrounded the marketplace. "First of all, asshole, you're not gonna 'check up on me' because you're not my goddamn babysitter. Second, why the hell did you leave to begin with?!"

Hakuryuu shoved him back with surprising force. "You seriously think you could understand?!"

"Don't treat me like an idiot, Haku-!"

"Hakuryuu?"

Both combatants froze at the sound of the new voice. Suddenly, they noticed that several of the _Dragoness's_ sailors, evidently having spotted the commotion from the ship, had come running after the two of them. All had eyes fixed on Hakuryuu.

"My God, it is you," Olba breathed, incredulous. "We all thought you were dead."

Alibaba turned to his subordinate. "What? He was never even-"

"I might as well be," the black-haired boy admitted, smiling sadly. "After I fell overboard, I was floating on driftwood for days, no food or water at all. I was half-unconscious by the time I washed up on the shores here and the people took me in."

"That's incredible! How many people can say they've been lost at sea twice and survived?!" In his excitement, Olba apparently didn't notice the cynicism in his captain's expression, nor that fact that Alibaba's eyes were about to roll out of their sockets.

"Yes, it is amazing, isn't it?" Hakuryuu glanced at Alibaba smugly.

 _Don't you give me that, idiot. "_ Hakuryuu said just now that he can't wait to get back on our ship again and start working some more! Isn't that right, Hakuryuu?"

Hakuryuu's eyes may have been mismatched, but they both looked murderous as they flashed a glare in Alibaba's direction. The blond willed himself to hold back a smirk. Then, with a smile that was not so much a smile as a baring of clenched teeth, Hakuryuu responded, "Right. Can't wait."

Olba walked behind the two other young men as they walked back towards the ship. Good thing, too, as they couldn't strangle each other with a witness around.


	6. Chapter 6

**AAAAND WE'RE BACK! YAY! I'm particularly excited about this chapter, as I believe it's rather climactic and kind of the centerpiece of the story. ( But don't worry-we still have awhile to go before the actual climax, so there'll be plenty more trite to come.) I will say that I wish I'd had more time to edit this portion of the fic, but I hope it still turned out alright anyway.**

 **Well, since we're a little more than halfway through the story, I'm just gonna take the time right now to extend a huge thank-you to everyone who has followed, favorited, or reviewed this story so far. Honestly, every notification I get from any of you guys motivates me to keep going, and although I feel I don't make it clear enough, I really do appreciate all of you.**

 **With that said, please enjoy!**

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The pain coursed through his body like a poison, half-paralyzing him as it reached to his farthest extremities. Every muscle in his body quivered against him, but nothing could dull the agony that racked him. He felt as though the bones in his legs had dissolved, that his limbs had turned to gelatin; he managed to walk with adrenaline and willpower alone.

Finally, a shaking Hakuryuu reached the table where Alibaba sat and collapsed into a chair with an exhausted gasp. While he attempted to regulate his heartbeat, the blond calmly drank a beer. "You really need to get in shape," he commented.

Hakuryuu lowered his forehead onto the table and did not have the energy to lift it up again. "I...hate cleaning."

"You should eat something."

The muffled voice pouted, "Not hungry."

"Aw, was carrying that big mop around too much for you? Maybe we should've started you off with a feather duster." Alibaba laughed. Hakuryuu's migraine intensified.

The ailing man lifted his head from the table just long enough to fix his companion with a glare. "Don't start blaming me for it," he grumbled. "I'm still not used to this weak body. I could do plenty more if I were still a dragon."

"Keep on making excuses," Alibaba chuckled.

Hakuryuu stared at the other boy for a moment longer before, with effort, he hoisted himself up from his seat. "Fine, then. I suppose I could just show you."

Alibaba rose to follow. "Maybe I should carry you. I don't want you breaking something."

"Oh, shut up!"

Together, the two walked up to the starboard side of the ship's deck. Gazing out as far as possible, Alibaba found the horizon to be barely distinguishable-in this night, the dark sea matched up with the starless sky to create a uniform blackness. He could imagine many things materializing out of such darkness, but at that moment, nothing that he could see seemed worthy of his attention.

"Hakuryuu, I can't see a damn..." He turned to face the other young man and found that only empty space accompanied him.

"Hey...where did-"

He did not finish his words. The air in his chest was slapped out of him all at once. A sharp blow had knocked him off his feet and sent him tumbling overboard. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of that which had struck him. Something scaly, something like a great fan-a tail.

He fell on his back, facing the unholy heavens. He then closed his eyes and waited to be seized by the cold, black ocean.

And he waited.

And he waited.

But the sensation never came. In fact, Alibaba did not so much as hear a splash as he hit the water. Instead, after nearly a minute, he cracked open his eyelids to find himself surrounded by water but somehow-miraculously-completely dry.

And then, in spite of the poor light, he saw it. The beast. The creature that he had been seeking for so long. The one-eyed entity that he had encountered on the day that he drove in to save a drowning friend.

The dragon stared at him pointedly. Though the serpentine being did not open his mouth, Alibaba heard Hakuryuu's voice, as before, not as though it had come from an outside source, but more so as an echo in his own mind. The voice said, _'Breathe.'_

Alibaba fixed the transformed Hakuryuu with an incredulous look. Was the guy trying to kill him? Had he, in becoming a dragon, forgotten about human limitations? Whatever the case, at the mention of breath, Alibaba became suddenly aware of a dull burning in his lungs.

 _'It's alright. I've made it so that you can breathe, so breathe.'_

Alibaba hesitated for a moment longer. Then, at last, he opened his mouth. Where he had expected the harsh sting of salt water, the coolest, cleanest air he could have asked for flowed into him.

Hakuryuu nodded his snakelike head. In spite of the transfiguration, the dragon'a single, soft, blue eye looked the same as it had while he had the form of a man. It remained intelligent, lucid...human. _I took the oxygen from the water around you. Now you've got a sort of protective coating around you, so you can breathe and stay dry._ He said all of this quite matter-of-factly, before swimming nearer to the shocked man. _Hold onto my back...if you're interested in coming with me, that is._

This time, Alibaba did not have to be asked twice. He held tight onto one of the spiked plates that ran down the length of the creature's spine.

Hakuryuu sliced through the ocean at impossible speeds, but, to Alibaba, it seemed almost as though they were not moving at all. True, he could feel the rhythmic ripple of lean muscle between his legs as the dragon's body undulated. He, however, felt not that they were pushing through the water, but that every particle of salt and sea parted before them. Indeed, it appeared that the whole world moved around them while they, just the two of them, remained still at an epicenter.

While on the serpent's back, it felt as though hardly any time had passed. For that reason, the rider became startled when Hakuryuu's head suddenly shattered the water's glassy surface.

"Incredible." When he finally regained enough composure to speak, that single word was the first that came to mind. "Just...wow. I mean...incredible!"

Scaly lips curled upward to reveal moon-white teeth, apparently the dragon equivalent of a grin. _'I thought you might like it. Have you looked up lately, by the way?'_

Immediately, Alibaba turned his face upward to see not the swallowing blackness of before, but instead a sky of jewels, so riddled with stars that there seemed to be more light than darkness.

"Wow..." Then, in a moment of realization, he looked around to find the ocean empty save for the two of them. "But where's the ship?"

 _'It's a ways off. I had to swim far away to find a clear patch of sky. But I can have us back before anyone notices we've gone.'_

"I believe it," Alibaba breathed. "I think after tonight I could believe just about anything you say."

The beast shook his head. _'Well, I may seem powerful to you, but without the power to control the waves and the tides and everything else...to any other dragon, I'm infinitely weak.'_

Alibaba stared at him. "You talk like a geezer sometimes, you know that?"

Slowly, the toothy smile returned _. 'I am, by your standards. I'm over 400 years old, Alibaba.'_

"Gross. I've been hanging out with an old man this whole time?"

 _'Shut up. By dragon standards, I'm hardly an adolescent.'_

"Damn...hey, Hakuryuu, would you do me a favor?"

 _'Of course.'_

"Turn back into a person."

The single eye blinked at him, wide and questioning. Still, after only a moment, the scale's began to fly off the long body and disappear, like startled birds. After they had all gone, what remained in their wake was the lithe, scarred young man, still confused as he stared at his human friend. The two faced each other now, on an equal level.

Immediately after the change had taken place, Alibaba felt his clothes become soaked and heavy, and instinctively he began to tread water. Hakuryuu shrugged helplessly. "See? My powers aren't nearly as potent in this form."

"Yeah, I got that. I don't mind much about that, though."

"No...I don't suppose you do."


	7. Chapter 7

**WHOOP WHOOP SHIT'S 'BOUT TO GET REAL.**

 **This chapter is already the longest one that I've posted thus far, so I'm going to keep this author's note as short as possible. I'll just once again extend my thanks to everyone who's been supporting this story so far. I really hope that all of you, especially those who've been following from the beginning, think that this fic has been living up to your expectations. You're all wonderful!**

* * *

"You do realize that I'll have to leave at some point, right?"

Alibaba turned from his work to look at the speaker. "What do you mean?"

"Well...I still need to search for my eye," Hakuryuu replied. "That means I can't stay here forever. I'll have to keep wandering...before long."

Yellow hair bounced a bit as Alibaba nodded. "That makes sense."

Hakuryuu, who had been avoiding the gaze of the captain, now stared at him in surprise. He had expected a reaction of incredulity, anger, hurt-some form of protest, at the very least. "It...it does?"

"Well...yeah. I was upset the first time you left because you didn't tell me about it-which, by the way, I still consider a dick move. But I know how much you want to find that thing, so you can go when you need to."

"But...the others-"

"I'll make up some story to cover for you. Just promise me one thing?"

"Yeah?"

"...Don't be a stranger, alright? Come back sometimes, when you can. I'd like to see you."

Hakuryuu could only gaze and gaze again upon the golden boy. The words of his friend slammed into him all at once, and the impact dazed him so that he could barely comprehend the message fully.

Meanwhile, the corners of Alibaba's mouth slowly began to fall frownward. "Unless…that's not what you want anymore?"

"Huh? Uh, no! Of course I'd like to come back here! I mean, it's just not something I'm use to do—but that doesn't mean I don't like it! Really, I—"

"Hey, Hakuryuu?"

"Yes?"

"You told me that you've been around for centuries, and you're still young compared to others like you. Does...does that mean dragons live forever?"

The addressee considered the question. "Immortality? I don't know about that. I do know that I've never even heard of a dragon dying, unless it were killed by another. And the oldest of my kind that I know of has been around for about 8,000 years."

"Hmm." Alibaba picked at a splinter protruding from the floor of the wooden deck. "I guess that means my life seems pretty puny to you, huh?"

"...What do you mean by that?"

"You've seen so many things already, and you're bound to see so much more." The young seaman stared out toward the unreachable horizon. "Compared to all that, someone like me would be pretty forgettable, yeah?"

This time, Hakuryuu stepped in front of Alibaba and made sure to lock eyes with him, the color of the sun meeting the color of the sky. "Alibaba, dragons don't get to choose the people to whom they appear. Only a great person, destined for great things, can see someone like me in my true form. You saw me during your childhood, and knowing the kind of man you are now, it's easy for me to understand why."

For some time, Alibaba did not move, did not break the eye contact that held him so fast. It was his turn to try processing what he could not understand. Finally, his dark lips broke into an easy smile. "I guess I am pretty great, right?!"

And they laughed.

* * *

 _Fire. To him, everything is fire._

 _Nothing he can do could ever allow him to escape the inferno into which he has been thrown. Everything around him seems to burn him. His bed, once a reliable source of comfort, has turned to a torture rack on which he is forced to endure the unbearable heat. Even the air seems to burn._

 _And yet, no flames are to be found anywhere around him. The tongues of fire that consume him are invisible. In truth, they come from within._

 _"His fever will keep rising," the neighborhood shaman had murmured a few days ago. "Ain't no way to get the medicines to treat it, not now."_

 _In the midst of his agony, he spots a figure emerge into his line of sight. Though everything else in his vision has been blurred by tears and delirium, this person appears to stand out in comparatively sharp focus, and his identity can be immediately recognized. His friend, his brother, Cassim._

 _He is drenched, Alibaba notices. Soaked, in fact. It reminds him of that one bright day when Alibaba had pushed him off the dock from behind when Cassim was reaching for his sandal that had fallen in the water and he pretended to be angry afterwards but it was all in good fun. Cassim is speaking now, or at least his lips are moving, but Alibaba does not hear. Any and all outside noise is drowned out by a constant roaring in his ears. His brother has a spherical package under his arms._

 _Alibaba attempts to talk in return, but his throat, too, has been scorched, and it is all he can do to release a rasping breath. In return, Cassim shushes him before bringing a bowl to his cracked and pale lips. Before he can close his mouth again, something salty and hot is poured down his throat, but amongst all the other pain he is in, the unpleasantness hardly registers._

 _His eyes turn slowly to notice that the package that Cassim had been holding now rests on the wooden plank which serves as their table. It has been uncovered, and the cloths which had been used to wrap it lie scattered around, adorned with stains the color of rust. As he looks at the item now revealed, it looks back at him._

* * *

He sprung awake, catapulted into consciousness without any warning. Sweat soaked him, as though his body had been trying to quench the heat that had engulfed him in his dream. His chest heaved rapidly.

A flood of memories swelled and swirled in his mind, dizzying him with images long suppressed. He remembered it all.

Looking around, he saw that night still veiled his sleeping quarters. All figures in the room distinguished themselves only as slightly darker shapes, the blacker against the black. Wrenching back his covers, he threw himself wildly into this blindness with a single, direct objective to guide him.

In his dream, Alibaba had witnessed something all too alien and all too familiar. And _he_ had to know about it.

It took just moments before he reached another of the ship's cabins and burst inside. Doing so, he roused the lump curled up under the bedsheets. With a groan, Hakuryuu hoisted himself up. His hair had fallen in front of his eyes, and he had to shake it out of the way to get a look at his visitor, causing the locks to stand haphazardly on end. At any other time, Alibaba might have found it endearing.

"Hakuryuu, I need to tell you something!"

"I should hope so," he grumbled, rubbing his eyelid. "Or do you go around disturbing people's sleep just for the fun of-"

"I know where your eye is."

Any trace of tiredness instantly crumbled away from the young man. Hakuryuu's body became all tautness and attention. His intent stare bored into Alibaba, pressing him. "You...what do you mean, you know?"

"I swallowed it."

Hakuryuu blinked. "Alibaba, be honest with me now. How much rum did you drink tonight?"

"You asshole! I'm serious!" He slammed his hand down onto the mattress, causing Hakuryuu to jump back a bit in surprise. Sucking a deep breath in, Alibaba sat down on the bed and met his gaze. "Tell me something: Your eyes have the power to heal the sick, don't they?"

"Well, it's a bit more than _that_ ," he responded with a touch of indignance. "The eyes control water, so they control life..."

"So they can heal!"

"I…suppose, yes, but..."

"Hakuryuu, I...I'm almost sure my brother took your eye."

The dragon marveled at his words, open-mouthed. Alibaba seemed to see a dozen different expressions cross his face, a dozen different emotions battling for dominance. "But how...how could...your brother? A normal human stole from me?"

"Only the great can see dragons," Alibaba reminded him sadly. "And Cassim was a great man, or he would've been if he hadn't died."

Hakuryuu had stopped looking at him. The mismatched eyes, which many times in the past had brightened upon seeing Alibaba's approach, now avoided the face of a friend. Indeed, the entirety of the young man seemed to be drawn downward-body hunched, brow furrowed, mouth turned to a frown. He directed his gaze squarely at the ground, as though the answers he sought had slipped between the cracks in the ship's wooden floor.

At last, he spoke. "And your brother fed you my eye to heal you...is that it?"

Alibaba nodded. "He must've thought that it was the only way. Whatever I was sick with couldn't be cured, at least not by any of the medicines we could get our hands on." Quickly, he added, "I was delirious when the whole thing happened, so no wonder I couldn't remember it until now. I think...it was being around you so much that brought the whole thing back."

Still, Alibaba's urgent expression remained unmet. Hakuryuu paused, and then he said, "I see," and then he stood up, and then he walked out. No further reaction came from him.

The captain of the _Dragoness_ , however, was not prepared to end the conversation. He hurried after Hakuryuu, following him up to the main deck. "So what now? Now that you know what happened, what's the next step? There's got to be-"

"Next step?" Hakuryuu cut in. "The only option I have left is to face what I've been running from all this time."

"You...what do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I'm going to take my territory back from the Great Dragon."

Alibaba stopped in an instant. "The Great Dragon...you said that's the one who's been after you all this time. You're not saying you're going to fight her, are you?"

"Mmm."

"But you can't! You said you have half the strength of all the others!"

"Yes." The word came out bluntly and without any form of consolation. Alibaba felt the full blow of the raw syllable as it punched him in the gut and seemed to stay there, like a weight in his stomach.

He shook his head quickly. "There's got to be another way. I know there is!"

"I can promise you that there is none." The young man's voice had deadened. Words fell on the quiet air with a restrained, joyless monotone. And still he would not look up. "Alibaba, I want you to know how grateful I am to you for everything you've done for me so far. I never expected that anyone would be so welcoming to me..."

"No-"

"And if I hadn't been lucky enough to find you, I know for a fact I never would have made it this far."

"Shut up!" Unable to hold himself back any longer, he grabbed onto Hakuryuu's shoulder and forced the man to face him. "Don't give me any of that! If you really appreciate being here, then stay! You can't seriously be telling me you're about to throw your life away just...just for..." Alibaba's voice trailed off, the fire in his speech dwindling. He could now, at last, look Hakuryuu in the eyes-the eyes that drooped, the eyes that looked reddened, the eyes that seemed utterly defeated. In the dark, Alibaba noticed, the lovely blue irises seemed to morph into the color of a stormy grey sea.

"Alibaba," he began-and this time his tone was imbued with a sad softness. "If I were to stay here, I would be putting off the inevitable. Gyokuen will find me no matter how far I run, and if I have to face her, I'd rather do it on my own terms."

"So at least let me try to help you! I mean...I still don't know much about dragons, but at least we could...could come up with a plan or something together, right?!"

Hakuryuu paused. Then he sighed. "Our world...it's not a place for someone like you. I'm so sorry you had to be thrown into something you don't understand..."

"Understand?" Alibaba murmured suddenly. "You seemed to have no problem confiding in me before. But I guess you don't trust me to stand by you now, when you really need it."

"You know that's not what I m-"

"You said I'd be great man one day. You believed it too." Alibaba glared. "Not any more, I guess."

Hakuryuu blinked once, twice, in wide-eyed surprise as he processed those words. Then the wide, vulnerable eyes hardened into a glower. "You're trying to make me stay, Alibaba." He brushed the hand off his shoulder. "But nothing is going to work. I won't be humiliated again. I can't be."

He began to walk away, down the plank that took him down from the ship to the dock where the vessel had been moored for the night. Contrary to his expectations, Alibaba did not begin to follow him. His words however, did: "I thought I told you not to be a stranger here. But that's what you're acting like toward me right now."

Hakuryuu stopped. In that moment, everything in him prompted him to turn around. Back to the ship that had become his home. Back to the boy that had become his home. Had he gone back, he would have said that it pained him to leave. He would have said that he still trusted in Alibaba's greatness.

He would have, if he had turned back. But he didn't. He kept on walking, because he knew that if he hesitated now, he would never be able to regain the willpower to leave.

In the dark, he heard Alibaba's footsteps growing louder, coming after him. But he slipped into the sea before the man could catch up with him.


	8. Chapter 8

**AGH, I'm so sorry that this chapter is being posted a bit late...it's been a very hectic and exciting week, which has left me little time for editing. Even now, I feel like I rushed the revisions on this one, so I apologize if there are a number of errors-if you spot any glaring ones, feel free to point them out. On the other hand, this is a rather long and climactic chapter, so I hope that makes up for any mistakes! We're nearing the end at last, so please have fun reading!**

* * *

Two days after Hakuryuu's second disappearance, it began to rain. The day after that, it was still raining.

And it rained.

And it rained.

The storm had seemed to come from nowhere and from everywhere all at once. In one instant, all seemed clear, and in the next, the dark strata of great storm clouds loomed, the ominous mass of green-grey eating up the blue sky as it advanced.

For four days, it rained. It rained so much, sailors would later report, that fish would survive for hours on land after being caught thanks to the moisture in the air. So much, they would say, that after spending just moments outside one might as well leap into the sea, since they couldn't possibly get any wetter. So much, they said, that the ocean herself was even rumored to rise just a touch during those days.

Of all the seamen stranded in the harbor because of the storm, few had ever witnessed anything like it, and none had any idea of its cause. None, that is, except for the captain of the _Dragoness_.

Everyone on the ship had been below decks for hours, with the marked exception of their leader. After a time, Morgiana had gone searching for him and discovered him up on the main deck. Through the sound of the gale and the pelting drops of water, she called out, "Alibaba?"

Said man quickly swiveled around to look at his mate, his vision blurred by the water that fell from his drenched hair into his eyes. "Morgiana! I was just about to come and get you."

As he spoke, she noticed him fumbling with one of the ropes that fastened the ship in place. "What is it that you need?" she asked slowly.

He stood and faced her, eyes wide with an urgency bordering on the frantic. "I was planning on telling the whole crew at once. We need to leave now."

She stared at him, incredulous. "In this storm? What for?"

"Because believe it or not, I have an idea of how to stop this weather. I know it doesn't make sense now, but I promise it will later."

"But...how are you going to go anywhere when it's like this?"

"We've navigated bad storms before. Leave the rest to me." He paused suddenly to look at her. "You trust me with this, don't you?"

"Yes." And he knew that she meant it, because he had asked her the same question many times in the past, and always she had answered with the same solid conviction that she did now. "But I'm worried that the others might not."

It was now Alibaba's turn to appear disbelieving. "What are you talking about?"

As if on cue, his ears suddenly registered a thudding against the deck that differed from the monotonous drone of the pounding rain-footsteps, he realized, many of them. And as he turned around, he saw that they belonged to the entirety of his crew, coming toward him as a group. They walked slowly, almost meekly, shuffling their waterlogged shoes.

"What are you all doing up here?" he asked.

For a several moments, only the thunder answered. Then, realizing that no one else would willingly speak, Olba began, "Alibaba, we'd like to talk to you."

His brow still lined with confusion, Alibaba went with the group below the deck and out of the tempest. "Alright...let's talk."

"Were you getting ready to leave?"

"Yes, well, I know it's short notice," he said hastily. "But I was just about to go down and mention it to-"

"Alibaba," Bhrol interjected, "no one in their right mind would set sail in a storm like this."

"Yes they would! Come on, we've navigated rough weather just fine before!"

"Not like this. You know damn well there's been nothing like this."

"Are you saying you don't trust me?"

Silence. Alibaba searched the faces of his crew, desperately seeking eye contact in return, some sign that he was still respected as a leader. No one would face him.

"Alright, listen," Alibaba growled. "If there's anyone who doesn't believe that I would risk my own life well before I'd put any crew member's on the line, I invite you to get the hell of this ship right now."

Again, no one spoke.

"Three years," he murmured after a time. "Three years I've been in command of you and this ship, and you're just now telling me that you have no faith in your captain."

"We did!" Alon objected. "It's just that you've been changing!"

"Yeah!" Olba added. "Ever since Haku-"

"Don't you talk about him!"

"No, I will! Ever since Hakuryuu left you've been a goddamn mess! Brigit says she hears you pacing around for hours at night after everyone's already gone to bed! You're getting to be delirious!" He grabbed Alibaba and shook him just as another crack of thunder tore down from the heavens. "Listen to that. That's what you wanna take your crew into?!"

Alibaba stopped. For the first time in four days, he felt as though his racing mind could finally stop.

If he had been able, he would have told his crew that he knew only Hakuryuu's battle with the Great Dragon could have resulted in a storm of this magnitude. He would have said that he had been distressed all this time not because he believed Hakuryuu to be dead, but because he knew that his friend was alive and desperately struggling.

But they were right, he realized, as his cold and rain-soaked clothes clung like a caul to his skin. In any other situation, he never would have thought to attempt something so risky. And anyway, even if they did manage to conquer the storm, what could he ever hope to do to help Hakuryuu.

He opened his mouth to apologize, but the words never had a chance to come out.

Instead, a great lurching seized the ship, nearly knocking Alibaba off his feet. An small uproar arose from the startled crew as they all instinctively reached out to try to steady themselves.

Fighting to keep his balance, Alibaba sped back up to the main to deck. A fierce gale now accompanied the downpour, and waves lashed the hull.

"Alibaba! What's going-"

The thing reared up without warning. It seemed to rise endlessly, reaching high above the sea's surface, high above all of the crew, high above the mast of the ship, up and up and up.

To all others on the _Dragoness_ , it must have seemed simply to be a great wave looming up over them. However, Alibaba was the only one able to witness the cause of the massive wall of water-the great serpent that had emerged from the ocean along with it.

Drowning out even the thunder, a great voice roared, _Which one of you can see me?_

The dragon did not have to wait for an answer. It saw that Alibaba alone had the ability to look it in the eyes, that only he out of all the other men could lay eyes on it. And so, as the wave crashed down on the ship, Alibaba felt teeth come down to clamp on his leg and drag him into the sea.

* * *

When Hakuryuu next regained his senses, he found that he was flying.

The stroke of realization felt rather comforting to him. Since he had spent so long in hiding, it had seemingly been ages since he'd had the chance to fly unburdened by care. He relished the familiar sensation of the wind rippling over his long body, caressing him with a pleasant coolness. The constant _whoosh_ ing of the air around him filled up his eardrums with a white noise, a loud silence that obstructed any other external sounds. In that moment, the world seemed to consist of only himself and the sky.

But that was the odd part about it, he finally noticed-the sky. Though he flew, he seemed to gain no altitude. He simply watched as the dark clouds up above him seemed to move further and further away...

 _You're going to die._

By the time Hakuryuu pieced together the fact that he was caught in free-fall, he had already slammed into the water back-first. The dragon's enormous mass crashed through the water's surface and sent gallons skyward with the splash. Agony coursed through him like an electric shock, nearly paralyzing him, but his pained roar was stifled by the brine that flooded his airway.

Red clouds billowed up before his eyes-not storm clouds this time, but harbingers of death nonetheless. They were formed of his own blood dispersing through the water.

 _Well, Alibaba, here's your proof that dragons don't always live forever._ At that thought, every fiber of his being ached once more for the rocking of a ship. For a clear sky. For stars. For the priceless gold in one man's eyes, the gold that had been handed out for free every time Hakuryuu looked at him.

 _At least he's safe from all this._

Above all, he sought rest. He did not know how long he had been fighting. He could not even discern day from night, since the roiling storm had instituted perpetual darkness.

 _You're going to die._

In the sea, he knew that he had no chance-though he could nearly hold his ground while fighting Gyokuen in the air, his missing eye gave him no power to fight by controlling the water, unlike her. Summoning the dregs of strength that still remained in his exhausted body, he launched himself from beneath the waves and started flying upwards. A blue flash of lightning hurtled toward him, but he dodged it and fired off several bolts of his own. But he could not accurately aim for his opponent; she had disappeared into the clouds, and though he knew that she must have been able to see him, he could not pinpoint her location.

Above the incessant bellowing of the thunder, he should not have been able to hear anything else. Above the gales and the gusts that endlessly pummeled against his ears, he should not have been able to hear anything else. Above the chaos that constituted his current reality, nothing else should have registered to him. And yet, just barely, his ear managed to catch a tiny voice-perhaps because that voice was the only thing he wanted to hear at that moment.

"Hakuryuu!"

At first, he believed that the sound was merely the product of his own exhausted mind. However, looking back towards the sea, he noticed a speck being tossed callously by the waves. The expanse of grey ocean was broken by a yellow head of hair bobbing along the surface.

 _Shit._

Unthinking, he dove straight down, rocketing toward Alibaba's helpless form. However, in his haste, he did not notice the great wave that leapt up to greet him as he approached the surface.

The impact of the water sent him veering off course, nearly knocking him back into the sea entirely. As he should have expected, the Great Dragon had seen him heading back towards the surface and now sought to take advantage of the opportunity.

As quickly as possible, Hakuryuu shook off the blow and began moving again towards Alibaba, his body shedding all feelings of tiredness and hurt as though they were cargo unnecessary to his mission. Though he made a concentrated effort this time to avoid the water, he still constantly found himself being lashed by the violent billows. They seemed to act as the myriad hands of the sea, attempting to pull him down and down.

At last, just as he began to believe that his battered body would stand no more, he approached his target. Hakuryuu lowered his tail toward Alibaba, and-mercifully-the young man took hold.

 _What the hell are you doing here?!_ The dragon demanded as Alibaba clambered up onto his back.

"I have a way I can help you!" The blond's voice came through muffled; the wind seemed to sweep away his words before they even left his mouth. Still, Hakuryuu sensed a peculiar elation in the man's tone.

The serpent flew off as quickly as possible, away from the center of the battle. _I need to get you somewhere safe!_

"No, I really have a way to help stop this!"

 _What could you possibly-_

"Look out!"

Too late. Within seconds, their world turned black. Utterly, oppressively black.

It took Hakuryuu no time to recognize that, in the panic, they had flown into one of Gyokuen's storm clouds. It also took him to time to think of what would happen next.

'Alibaba, get in my mouth!'

"What?!"

Hakuryuu did not take the time to explain. Instead, he simply took Alibaba into his great maw, sheltering him between his jaws.

A moment later, it began.

In the part of Hakuryuu's mind that remained rational in the midst of all his fear, he knew what now caused him such pain. It was the massive hailstones within the thunderhead, being tossed about by air currents within the cloud. However, knowing the source of his misery, in this case, brought him no solace; if anything, it only reminded him of exactly how helpless he truly was.

A hundred objects seemed to strike him all at once. The huge spheres of ice attacked impersonally, anonymously, hitting him at random in the dark. In the all-consuming blackness, he had no way of detecting his assailants until they struck, making dodging the hail impossible. So blow on blow on blow came.

It took minutes for them to pass through the storm, but to Hakuryuu, each and every one of those minutes was an eternity unto itself. Each of the injuries that he had just sustained acted as a weight upon him, pulling him down from the sky.

He had known for quite some time that he would never succeed against Gyokuen. However, only at this moment did he truly grasp the imminence of his defeat. He had no hope, absolutely no hope, in battle against the Great Dragon; at the moment, he could barely battle gravity.

 _YOU'RE GOING TO DIE._

Suddenly, Hakuryuu sensed a slight stinging on his tongue. Compared to all the other pain he felt, this new addition felt like little more than a pinprick to him, but it still surprised him enough to prompt him to open his mouth. Alibaba, who had caused the new pang by cutting the dragon's tongue lightly with a dagger, now used the opportunity to scramble past the Hakuryuu's great teeth and climb up onto his snout.

 _Alibaba! You can't-!_

"You're gonna have to trust me, Hakuryuu! I know now! I know why you said I'd be a great man one day!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Holy shit, we're at the second to last chapter already. Can you believe it? 'Cause I can't. This story has been hanging over my head in one way or another for months, and it's hard to believe that it's finally drawing to a close. Anyway, I won't waste any time now-please have a lovely read!**

* * *

 _Alibaba_ _thrashed like the captive animal he was. The fangs of the dragon had clamped down onto his leg before he had been dragged underwater, and now the limb remained trapped by the steely embrace of those interlocking jaws. Though he continued to fight desperately, he knew that he had little hope of reuniting with his comrades; his ship had already disappeared from view._

 _In the midst of his struggles, he heard a feminine voice state,_ 'I'm sorry I had to do it like this.'

 _"What kind of sick animal apologizes to prey before eating it?!" His own voice surprised him. In his frantic desire to get away, he had not realized that he could once again breathe underwater, just as in the first time he had taken a ride with Hakuryuu._

'I'm not going to eat you,' _the voice answered impatiently. '_ I need you.'

 _He stopped his struggles. "What? Me?"_

'You are the one that befriended Hakuryuu, yes?'

 _He immediately stiffened at the mention of the name. "How...how do you know about that?"_

'I tracked my brother's scent to your ship, and since you were able to see me, I assumed that you must've been the great man who was able to see him originally.'

 _"Yeah...a great man," he scoffed. "Can't even lead my own crew properly."_

 _Reptilian eyes glanced back at him._ 'Why would greatness have anything to do with leadership? You can do great things without having anyone notice you ever did them-noble things. In fact, that's why I came to get you.'

 _"What?!"_

'Before Hakuryuu went after the Great Dragon, he shared the story with me about you swallowing his eye...'

 _"You mean you didn't stop him from going after her?"_

'I certainly tried! Everything short of holding him hostage, in fact! But listen to me...the only real way this war can end will be if you can assist him.'

 _He started clambering up onto the white beast's back, gripping scales as handholds. "Why me? You're a dragon, aren't you?! Can't you help Hakuryuu fight?"_

 _The creature exhaled deeply in what seemed to be a huff. It occurred to Alibaba then that, unlike Hakuryuu, most beings of such age and might would be annoyed by such blunt speech from a human._ 'Yes, I can. As it happens, if he and I were to fight together, we would stand a chance of winning.'

 _"Perfect! Then-"_

'But I will not fight this time."

 _He looked at her in disbelief. Great effort was required to stay his frustration. "What...why not, then?!"_

'I didn't expect you to understand at first. Listen very carefully, because otherwise you can't be of any help at all. Being a dragon isn't about vying for power with other dragons or being ambitious, like people. We must have just enough power to do what is required of us. In Hakuryuu's case, when he lost so much of his strength, he could no longer hold control over the waters that he had to patrol.'

 _"Yeah, he told me all that already."_

'Maybe, but he might not have told you this: Helping him gain back his power will only be half the battle. He can't be allowed to kill the Great Dragon. If she dies, no one will be there to preside over the open ocean, where she has control. The world will be thrown into chaos. If we don't restore the balance-'

 _"How do I know you're telling me the truth? You sure you're really on Hakuryuu's side?"_

 _She snorted._ 'What other choice do you have other than to trust me?'

 _Alibaba paused, then asked slowly, "And you think I can do something about all this?"_

'In a word, yes.'

 _He nodded. "I understand. Just tell me what I have to do."_

 _The iridescent creature slowed, turning back to look at him with an expression bordering on reverence._ 'You...really must be the great man that Hakuryuu told me about.'

 _"I can only hope so. Now how are we going to help him?"_

* * *

The rain stung Alibaba as the wind blew it against his exposed flesh, but the pain only served to make his body feel more alert, more alive. He gripped one of the scales on Hakuryuu's muzzle in order to steady himself as they cut through the air.

 _'What the hell is wrong with you?!'_

Alibaba could not have answered even if he had wanted to-the high elevation had begun to suffocate him, leaving him barely enough air to breathe. Judging by what he could see before him, however, that would soon be of no concern.

At first, he could make out nothing except the dark, nebulous forms of thunderheads before him. As they approached, what had originally appeared to be an extension of cloud began to move independently, taking on a more solid and defined shape as it emerged into view. The figure continued to emerge slowly from the cloud, as a snake creeps out from its burrow to hunt.

It was a dragon, but not anything like Hakuryuu or even like the white dragon. For even at a distance, one could see that this one was much, much bigger. Meters bigger. Leagues bigger. Miles bigger. Massive enough, it seemed, to circle the entire dome of the sky.

The leviathan's scales matched perfectly the sickly grey-green of the storm all around them, so he could pick out few distinguishing features about the creature. However, as though illuminated, the eyes of the creature shone out clearly-eyes the color of amber, and like amber, ancient and bright and hard. And they were aimed directly at him.

Alibaba knew that he should have felt fear. He did not, or if he did, the emotion quickly became lost in the flood of adrenaline that had seized his body. In his growing lightheadedness, a single intention, a single thought stood out to him, like a beacon directing him through the fog in his mind.

' _When you swallowed the eye, its power was transferred to your body,'_ the white dragon had said. _'It is still somewhere inside you. And when you die, it will be released from you and returned to Hakuryuu. And everything will be well.'_

He thought he heard Hakuryuu's voice shouting his name just as he saw the flash. He thought so, but he could not be sure. The beautiful, blinding, whiter-than-white light seemed to engulf everything in its path. It swallowed the sea, and it swallowed the sky, and it swallowed all sound, and it swallowed him. And then, it seemed, there was nothing.

When the Great Dragon's lightning bolt struck Alibaba, several things occurred.

Firstly, Hakuryuu's exhaustion instantly dissipated. But it was more than that. The pain that had plagued his muscles dissolved and transformed into strength, a tremendous amount of strength, enough to sustain him for days and days even after the terrible battle. And when he blinked, he found that, yes, his left lid now passed over a healthy round eye rather than an empty socket.

Secondly, the Great Dragon must have quickly sensed that her opponent's full power had suddenly been restored, for she and her storm quickly began to depart. Within minutes, patches of blue appeared overhead, the sky finally receiving the chance to breathe after having been stifled by cloud for so long.

And thirdly, Alibaba was gone. As much as Hakuryuu sought to convince himself otherwise, Alibaba was gone. Although he spent his newfound strength searching for endless days, seeking his savior, his golden boy, all his phenomenal powers could not change one simple fact.

Alibaba was gone.


	10. Epilogue

**HI GUYS! So, first off, I'm sorry that you had to wait so long for such a brief chapter. I wanted to do a total rewrite and edit of the thing, but could never seem to find the time. In the end, I like how it turned out, so I hope it was worth the wait!**

 **With that being said...man, I can't believe this story is already over. Since my writing's been so slow over the past several years, I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to finish a big project like this, and though I'm proud of myself for getting to the end, I'll also miss revisiting the world I've created here.**

 **And while we're being sentimental, it's that time again-time to thank all the people who have read this story and supported it with favorites, follows, and reviews. I know I say this a lot and by now it might be sounding insincere, but I mean it. Every time I get a notification saying that someone likes the story or has something to say about it, I get loads more motivation to keep writing more. I deeply appreciate and would like to thank all of you, especially those who have been reading since the early chapters.**

 **And now, please enjoy the final chapter!**

* * *

The _Dragoness_ pulled into port late one quiet night. The sea, for the time being, seemed at rest along with the rest of the world, the only waves being gentle ripples that ebbed and flowed in a serene rhythm.

"Captain?...Captain!"

Morgiana looked up suddenly, just as she had finished tying the ship to the dock. Silently, she chastised herself for not responding sooner-she had still not grown accustomed to her new title.

Olba took a step toward her. "Just wanted to tell you that everything below deck is secured. We can disembark now, if you're ready."

"Ah...good. Thank you for telling me."

"It'll be nice to be on land a few days, won't it?"

"Yes. I think we all need the rest."

"Especially after the last couple months we've had, yeah..."

She let out a long sigh into the cool night air. "We all miss them."

They remained quiet for a moment, before Olba remarked with excitement, "Would you look at that!"

"What?" Morgiana looked up to see the object of his fascination. A streak of blue-white coursed across the night sky like a misplaced brush stroke against a dark canvas. It appeared to be a great star with a glowing tail.

"Not every night you see a comet."

"Beautiful," she breathed.

As she drew her eyes away from the marvel, however, she found another uncommon sight. What she had originally believed to be a buoy in the distance appeared now, as she focused on it, to be the neck of some great black serpent. The head of the creature appeared to point in the same direction that she faced, toward the anomaly in the sky.

"Olba...do you see that?"

"See what?"

* * *

 _'When dragons die, we become what you humans call comets. Our souls are what you see streaking across the sky. But you, Alibaba...because you have greatness about you, you also have the soul of a dragon, and you could do the same after you die. You'll be able to look over the earth and fly through the air. Not a bad reward for your bravery, I think.'_

"No, it's not...but I won't be with Hakuryuu until after he dies, then?"

 _'That's true...and it'll be quite some time before that happens. But believe me when I say that you'll have all the time in the world. You will be, in effect, immortal.'_


End file.
